If the print dialog box does not automatically appear, open the file menu and choose Print.

Article published November 26, 2012

Give up the hate

GG
Rev. Darlene K. Ryniec, United Methodist Church pastor, Sarver

What a victory witnessed through this election, of good overcoming evil.President Barack Obama has been hated by so many. I am sorry to say his colleagues in governing and his brothers and sisters in Christ top the list.They have been the greatest offenders, when they should know better.We have watched the unfair persecution spewed upon the president in many forms. Those who were doing the damage in the field apparently were getting their information and fuel from the Fox Network. This unreliable source of fiction seems to draw persons to itself. But the Scriptures teach that “men and women love darkness.”Much prayer had been going up for this election and this president. Many were hopeful that truth would prevail, Biblical standards would be upheld, and love would overcome hate.But so many were deceived. Even some of the most highly respected of Christian leaders seemed to have been duped.The plan to cause this president’s failure began at his inauguration when 15 of his colleagues vowed to counteract every attempt he would make to get our country back on track. They were eager to make him look like a failure.There was a twisting of the facts, again and again. And too many Christians put up with it.Shame on us.Big money looked like it could win this time. Hatred and misinformation appeared to be stronger than truth and love.The false allegations about the president’s birth, his faith commitment and his political persuasion are offensive to the God we serve. Basing one’s opinion on a hunch never is the road to truth.But my greatest concern is that persons now give up the hate. It is a strong force, and it can destroy a nation from within.I am shocked at how many persons spoke lies concerning this president, calling him a “baby killer,” a Marxist, a Communist, etc. His personal life reveals his values.Abortion (for just any reason) is not his agenda. Same-sex marriage is not his choice, but he believes in equality for those whose choice it is.If persons were truly using Christian discernment, they would see the truth.When a nation would rather support secrecy in a candidate’s life (noncompliance to revealing tax records, hiding money in foreign countries), deliberate lies concerning bailouts and job outsourcing, and a lack of respect for the common folk (the 47 percent), it is a wake-up call to who we serve, God or Mammon?Let us put aside our anger and ignorance and truly serve God by upholding His Biblical mandate to “heal the sick, feed the hungry and care for the poor.”Fear that following such a command from the Lord is socialism and will somehow hinder or hurt us is fulfilling the work of the enemy, and not the will of the Lord.